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I listen to a lot of sports podcasts, and one of the main topics this month has been what has happened with star baseball player Shohei Ohtani.
For the non-sports fans out there, I will summarize briefly what happened, though the facts and debate about the facts isn’t really where I want to go with this post.
Let’s start with the basics: Shohei Ohtani is a phenomenal baseball player. He is a generational talent as a hitter and a pitcher, which just doesn’t happen any more. It’s a little like being the best doctor in the world and the best lawyer in the world at the same time… it’s something I have never seen and I don’t think I ever will see again.
He’s made tens of millions of dollars since coming to the U.S. a few years ago, and he just signed a deal that will pay him $700 million for 10 years as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
But he also is dealing with the aftermath of a bizarre gambling scandal, where his interpreter is suspected of betting something like $180 million of his money on sports other than baseball. The interpreter won about $140 million on his bets, so the net loss on gambling was around $40 million. At first, the interpreter did an interview with ESPN in which he said Ohtani was aware of the bets. Then he reversed course shortly after and said it had been all him.
People obviously had lots of questions about the interpreter changing his tune. And his story, that he did all the gambling behind Ohtani’s back, that he lied to banks on money transfers, that he changed alerts so Ohtani wouldn’t know about withdrawals, raises lots of questions, too.
I actually don’t have much of an opinion on what the truth is. I don’t think we know everything yet to be able to make a final judgment. But the feds seem to believe the interpreter’s second version of what happened, that he stole the money and was addicted to gambling and did so without Ohtani knowing. Is that the whole truth? I don’t know, and I don’t feel particularly riveted by the whole dialogue of what the truth is.
What I do feel invested in is some of the dialogue around the story. I think we’ve gotten to a pretty good place in this country regarding addiction, where states have laws in place to protect people with addiction issues and there are lots of treatment facilities for addicts. And I also think the general public has a decent understanding of what it means when someone says they’re an alcoholic or an opioid addict. I found mostly compassion and understanding when I sought help.
Which makes some of the chatter about the Ohtani situation a little disheartening. I have heard too many people saying things like, “Well, if it’s as simple as the interpreter had a gambling addiction, how did he get away with it all this time? Why didn’t he bet less money so it was harder to catch him? Why did he do it with an illegal bookmaker rather than a legal gambling site? How could he violate the trust of his good friend and his golden ticket in life? Why didn’t he just stop?”
Uh, guys, doesn’t this sound like some of the b******t people used to say about alcoholism? Remember how your bozo uncle would say, “Why don’t you just drink two beers and then stop for the night?” Or “How could you have driven drunk?” Or, “Why didn’t you stop when you knew that driving drunk would cost you your driver’s license, or your job?”
News alert, none of it makes sense! We’re addicts. We do insane things to chase highs. There’s not logic to apply. You could not have talked any sense into me. You don’t think I considered the INCREDIBLE concept of not drinking quite as much? I know people that have gotten five or more DUIs. I know people that have burned their house down in a drunken stupor. None of it made them cut back or stop. I think society now realizes that about drugs and alcohol. Not sure why somebody who can’t stop betting on sports would be any different.
I also have been struck by the concept of how confused people are that a gambling addict might be good at hiding his gambling. I still always think about coming out of a New York City meeting on Saint Patrick’s Day once and the parade was going past the church. There were people half naked puking, screaming, fighting… it was total chaos. And I remember this old-timer lighting up a cigarette on the corner of 35th Street in Manhattan and looking at the parade and saying, “Eh, looks like the amateurs are out.”
I always think about that story because it’s so true—I was a professional addict. I worked on getting drugs, taking drugs and covering up my drug use 24 hours a day. I never got arrested. No DUIs. No job firings. I was good at being an alcoholic and a drug addict, and you’d be shocked how smart alcoholics and addicts are! If you know someone with an addiction issue and they’re not locked up in a jail cell or a casket, then they were probably very resourceful and good at it, too.
The Ohtani story will be a very interesting thing to follow over the coming months. It’s one of those stories that lots of people rub their hands together in glee because it’s wild and salacious and involves absurd amounts of money. But I mostly just feel a sting in my heart and hope that whoever needs help finds it.
This newsletter is a place of joy and laughter about the deadly serious business of sobriety. So, as I will often do, let me close with a joke:
An officer pulls a woman over for weaving across two lanes of traffic. He walks up to the driver's window and asks her, "Are you drinking?"
The woman says, "I don't know—are you buying?"
(Credit: Grapevine, April 2008, by Anonymous)
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